Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
A movie review by Alex First
It is so much riotous fun – a zany hoot. The 36-year wait for the sequel to the beloved Beetlejuice has well and truly been worth it.
Just seeing Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara “doing their thing” again is joyful.
I relished the addition of Jenna Ortega as the third-generation member of the ditsy Deetz family and as the storyline goes, the only sane member of the clan.
Now let me step back to introduce the storyline.
Lydia Deetz (Ryder), who nearly married Betelgeuse (Keaton) in Beetlejuice, hosts a supernatural TV program called Ghost House.
She is spooked out because she still sees visions of the unkempt “trickster demon”, as she calls him.
To make matters worse, she receives the shocking news from her artist stepmother Delia (O’Hara) that her father has died.
Lydia’s grounded, environmentalist, teenage daughter Astrid (Ortega) has no time for her mother and her visions.
Astrid is still grieving the passing of her dad (also a tree hugger) in a boating accident in the Amazon.
Lydia pulls Astrid out of school to attend her grandfather’s funeral in his hometown of Winter River.
It is there that circumstances see Betelgeuse return, relentlessly pursued by his soul-sucking former wife Delores (Monica Belluci).
He remains the same old mischief-making apparition and still wants to marry Lydia.
Meanwhile, Astrid’s world view shifts when she discovers a mysterious portal to the afterlife.
There is so much more to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice than the quick portrait I have painted.
The one-liners and sight gags come thick and fast. The writers have done a fine job.
The wacky characters include Bob, the lead shrinker zombie, and his colleagues. They work for Beetlejuice at the Afterlife Call Centre.
I loved the cameo of Danny DeVito as a gruff janitor, while Willem Dafoe is cast as a former actor turned ghost detective.
Director Tim Burton has done beautifully with the plentiful material with which he has to work.
The action moves quickly and I couldn’t get enough of its playful nature.
The film’s unearthly production values are solid. The musical choices are mighty ear pleasing.
Seeing Keaton don the black and white stripes again and up to his old antics is like putting on a pair favourite slippers.
He does it so well and seemingly effortlessly.
It is also time to see a wide-eyed Ryder back to her star billing, while O’Hara has a wow of a time as Charles’ grieving widow, including cloaking their home in black.
Ortega adds heft as Astrid, while Belluci terrorises all as Delores.
Importantly, you can see and relish Beetlejuice Beetlejuice without having seen the original, but for those who did the experience is even sweeter.
This is a sequel you need to see.
Rated M, it scores an 8 out of 10. Time 105 mins
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